Garment hanger



Feb. 27, 1945. J. BOLTEN ErAL GARMENT HANGER Filed Nov. 2v, 194s Patented Feb. 27, 1945 GARRIENT HANGER John Bolten,l Andover, Mass., and Henry Spitz,

- Great Neck, N. Y.

Application November 27, 1943, Serial No. 511,932

6 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in garment hangers of the type generallyknown as dress hangers, and the principal object of the invention is to provide a non-metalliferous hanger, that is, a hanger containing no metal, which will not stain orvsoil the garment by reason of rust, corrosion or by deterioration will stain,l

soil, or otherwise damage delicate fabrics 'which are supported upon it.` l I.

A further object of the invention is to provide a garment hanger construction which will "wholly avoid the use of metal in View of the shortage of metal due to war conditions.

Some usual hangers comprise a curved sup'- porting frame of wood or libre composition which is centrally supported upon a metal suspending hook having a, shank extending into or through the body of the hanger and xedly secured to or rotatably mounted therein. Other types of hangers are formed wholly of metal wire bent into the desired form and having' anintegral metal hook extending upwardly'from'the central portion thereofv and in which the hook :isv not rotatable with respect to the body of 4the hanger. Still other hangers are made of cardboard 'or other brous material with 'an integral hook which is not rotatable relatively to the hanger body. It is desirable, if not essential, thatthe suspending hook be rotatably mounted in the body of the Vhanger in order that the hanger and the garment thereon may be hung upon a support Which is not at right angles to the` plane of Ythe body of the hanger, and a further object of the invention is to provide a hanger having a nonmetal hook provided with a rotatable connection to the body of the hanger.

More particularly the invention relates to improvements in hangers formed of plastic, preferably thermoplastic, material and in which the suspending member is also of. plastic material and the shank of which is secured against withdrawal from the body by non-metallic preferably plastic material.

A further object of the invention is to provide a garment hanger which will present smooth` curved surfaces to support the garment and prevent `wrinkles thereof and which will present no These and other objects and features of the invention will more fully appear from the following description and the accompanying drawing and will be particularly pointed out in the claims.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which',

Fig. `l is aside elevation of a hanger embodying the invention, a portion ofthe body being broken away and lined to show that it is of plastic composition;

Fig. 2 is a view partly in vertical section illustrating the body and shank both of plastic material and the means for preventing the shank from being withdrawn from the body;

Eig. 3 is a sectional view on lines 3-3 Fig. 2; an

Fig. 4is. an enlarged detail View more clearly illustrating the elastic split ring which embraces a circularly recessed portion ofthe shank of the hook to prevent its withdrawal from the rbody of the hanger.

The preferred embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawing comprises improvements upon the constructions disclosed in our prior Letters Patent No. 2,310,058 granted February 2, 1943, and No. 2,318,664 granted May 11, 1943, each of which discloses a garment hanger the body of which is formed of plastic material and a suspension member in the form of a hook having a metal shank mounted centrally in the neck portion of the hanger and extending transversely across an aperture in the `thin web of the hanger and journaled at its lower end inthe body of the hanger with the deformity in' the metal shank abutting the upper wall of the aperture to prevent withdrawal of the shank ofthe suspension member from the body of the hanger. The present invention is similar in general construction to those disclosed in our previous patents but differs therefrom in that the hook shaped susa non-metalliferous means for preventing with-v drawal of the shank from the body.

The hanger illustrated in the drawing com.

prises an integral body of plastic, preferably thermoplastic, material having a thin wide web l with a central neck portion i` preferably provided with Aa central aperture 3 and .outwardly and downwardly curved arms 4 and 5 extending in opposite directions from the neck portion. The body also `comprises an upper peripheral rib 6 of greater thickness, preferably at least three times the thickness of the web, which presents a smooth gently curved upper surface for supporting the shouldered portions of the garment and is provided centrally of the neck portion with a downwardly extending boss 1 which terminates at the upper end of the aperture 3. The body desirably also is provided with a lower peripheral rib 8 which desirably is of less thickness and the central portion thereof desirably has a thickened 'reinforcing boss 9 in axial alinement with the boss 'I to strengthen the apertured neckportion of the hanger. The arms of the garment hanger may if desired be provided with downwardly andV outwardly inclined recesses I bounded by the thickened rib 6 to receive the shoulder straps of ladies dresses or slips so constructed as to prevent them from slipping ofi the ends of the hanger but to permit them to be removed easily from the hanger.

The suspension mechanism comprises a hookshaped member Il of integral plastic, preferably thermoplastic, material having an integral straight extension or shank l2 which is preferably rotatably mounted in a vertical aperture or bearing extending through the rib 6 'and boss l and having a rounded or tapering end portion I3 which projects below the upper wall of the aperture 3. However if desired the shank may be of suilcient length to extend through and similarly journaled in the 'boss 9 with the extension thereof projecting below the lower wall of the boss. The extended or exposed portion of the shank is provided with a circumferential groove or channel I4 (Figs. 3 and 4) and an elastic expansible split ring l5 of greater diameter than the shank of the suspension member is sprung into this groove thereby providing an abutment to prevent withdrawal of the shank from the bearing in the boss or bosses in which the shank of the hook is mounted.

By reason of the present construction the body of the hanger and the suspending member can be packaged economically in unassembled condition in a much smaller package for storage and shipment and upon removal from the container readily assembled in operative position, thereby not only saving considerable storage space, but also preventing the liability of breakage of the suspending member by the bending of the portion of the package into which the suspending member would otherwise project if the suspending member were assembled upon the body. Desirably an insert I6 of like plastic material may be deposited in or integrally connected to the adjacent ends of the split ring by a suitable solvent thereby providing a continuous integral ring for preventing withdrawal of the shank of the hook.

By reason of the construction above described a hanger is provided which contains no metal, which is subject to corrosion, and in the construction described the exposed end portion of the shank and the retaining ring are within the recesses in the neck portion of the hanger and present no sharp edges, roughness or points which are liable to snag delicate fabrics which are supported by the hanger. The same will be true if the shank of the hanger extended across the aperture and through the lower boss 9 as the locking ring and the rounded end of the shank would not present any -edge or surface which would be likely to injure the fabric supported upon the hanger.

It will be understood that the particular embodiment of the invention shown and described herein is of an illustrative character and that the suspending member may be made of any suitable non-metalliferous material throughout and that anysuitable non-metalliferous means ma)r be provided for preventing withdrawal of the shank of the suspending member from the body of the hanger within the meaning and scope of the following claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is" claimed as new, and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is: i

1. A garment hanger comprising a non-metalliferous body having downwardly curved arm portions extending in opposite directions from the central portion thereof and a non-metallii'erous hook-shaped suspending member having an integral shank mounted in and extending through the central portion of said body and having a circumferential recess in the exposed end thereof and a spilt ring of elastic plastic material and of greater diameter than said shank sprung into said recess acting to prevent withdrawal of the shank oi the suspending member from the body of the hanger.

2. A garment hanger comprising a non-metalliferous body having downwardly curved arm portions extending in opposite directions from the central portion thereof and a non-metalliferous hook-shaped suspending member having an integral shank mounted in and extending through the central portion of Said body and having a circumferential recess in the exposed end thereof and a split ring of elastic plastic material and of greater diameter than said shank sprung into said recess with the adjacent ends of said split ring united by plastic material to form a continuous integral ring for preventing withdrawal of the shank of the suspending member from the body of the hanger.

3. A garment hanger comprising a body of thermoplastic material having a neck portion and outwardly and downwardly curved arms extending in opposite directions therefrom, and a hookshaped suspension member entirely of plastic material having a straight shank extending centrally through said neck portion provided with a recess in the exposed endthereof and plastic means releasably secured to the exposed end portion of said shank in said recess to prevent Withdrawal thereof from the body of the hanger when in assembled position, but to permit detachment of the suspending member for economy and safety in packaging and transportation.

4. A garment hanger comprising an integral body of plastic material having a neck portion, and outwardly and downwardly curved arms extending in opposite directions therefrom and having a thin web provided with a vertical aperture centrally of said neck portion and having an upper peripheral rib of greater thickness than the thickness of said web presenting a smooth curved supporting surface for the garment and having a central boss extending to said aperture, a hookshaped suspending member entirely of plastic material having a shank journaled in and extending vertically through said boss and having a cylindrically recessed end portion projecting into said aperture, and a split ring of elastic plastic material of greater circumference than said shank mounted in said cylindrical recess acting to prevent Withdrawal of the shank from the body of the hanger.

5. A garment hanger comprising an integral body of plastic material having a neck portion, and outwardly and downwardly curved arms eX- tending in opposite directions therefrom and having a thin web provided with a vertical aperture centrally of said neck portion and having an upper peripheral rib of greater thickness than the thickness of said web presenting a smooth curved supporting surface for the garment and having a central boss extending to said aperture, a hookshaped suspending member entirely of plastic material having a shank journaled in and extending vertically through said boss and having a cylindrically recessed end portion projecting into said aperture, and a split ring of elastic plastic material of greater circumference than said shank mounted in said cylindrical recess and having its ends integrally united by plastic material to form a complete ring acting to prevent Withdrawal oi the shank from the body of the hanger.

6. A garment hanger comprising a body of thermoplastic material having a neck portion provided with a vertical central boss and outwardly and downwardly curved arms extending in opposite directions from said neck portion, a hook-shaped suspension member entirely of plastic material having a straight shank extending centrally through and beyond said central boss and provided with an annular recess in the exposed end thereof, a split ring of elastic material of greater external diameter than said shank sprung into said recess acting to prevent withdrawal of the shank of the suspending member from the body of the hanger when in assembled position but detachable from said shank by spreading the adjacent ends of the ring, thus enabling the suspension member to be detached from the body and economically packaged with the body for storage and transportation.

JOI-IN BOLTEN. HENRY SPITZ. 

